Share via

Skeletons unearthed during ecavations for the London Crossrail transport project are victims of the Black Death from the 14th century, forensic tests have concluded.

The discovery resolves the 600-year-old mystery of the precise location of a mass grave of plague victims outside the City of London, in which historical accounts say the bodies of thousands of local people were interred.

Archaeologists now believe that the grave is under Charterhouse Square, near the Barbican in Farringdon, at the edge of which the present discovery of 25 skeletons was made.

The find is being heralded as a hugely important step in documenting

Subscribe now

Login

Already a subscriber?

To see the full article you need to subscribe

Subscribe

Login

1/5

The remains of plague victims have revealed information about the lives they led

March 31 2014 Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

The remains of plague victims have revealed information about the lives they led

March 31 2014 Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

Archeologists at work in an 18ft diameter shaft on the edge of Charterhouse Square where plague bodies were found

March 31 2014 PA

Twenty-five skeletons were uncovered during work on the rail line tunnelling for 13 miles under London

March 31 2014 AP

Don Walker, of the Museum of London, with one of the skeletons found to have died of the Black Death

March 31 2014 AP

DNA research indicates that the site was a burial ground for plague victims established around 1348